Nineteen Years
by sopphs
Summary: AU: When he was told he was going to be living with his uncle for the remaining two months of summer, Eren Jaeger hadn't been quite lively about it. However, those sandy shores of the city and his uncle's troublesome roommate were bound to make his staying there more interesting than it had been sold out to be (or how Eren and Levi ended up living together for the summer).
1. First Meetings

1. **first meetings**

Levi didn't know much about relationships and he did indeed look exactly like the type of man that didn't - he was somewhat stern, definitely bossy and the expression on his face seemed like it was permanently stuck on an apathetic default mode, unless his quite peculiar (and, to some extent, unexpected when compared to the remainder of his personality) sense of humour was involved. Then he would smile (and everyone would agree that they didn't want to see such sight ever again).

However, if there was something he knew and had found out throughout the very few relationships he'd had, was that first meetings were important - even if it's not important for you two, it will be for others.

So you're sitting with some friends and acquaintances and your partner - it's the first time that you introduce him to them and them to him - and so he's uncomfortable, embarrassed, nervous and you can spot a hint of a blush on his cheeks (_what were you expecting, Levi, he's still somewhat of a child after all_), and they are curious, slightly leaning forwards towards him and shamelessly looking at him at every single moment. You can get it though. Your situation is already uncommon even if they don't know how you two had met each other.

For that exact reason, they start exchanging daring glances between themselves, as if inviting someone to ask the question that is always lingering throughout the conversation. Your best friend is in the group and even though she feels slightly offended by the fact that she'd only known about your relationship two days ago, she doesn't show it. Fortunately or unfortunately, she's quite the unabashed folk and so the questions appears in her mouth when she realises that no one else will do it if she doesn't.

"So, how did you two actually meet?"

The customary question for new couples finally comes to surface. He blushes violently next to you and you realise that you are going to be the one answering that question. You sigh and, in that moment, you wish you could either die or kill Hanji. Probably both. Both would suffice.

If you were to be in a normal relationship the answer would be one of the following:

"In a coffee shop, where he works at on weekends" (yeah, this would imply that the boy wasn't living at Erwin's expenses and sometimes from the money that his mother would send when she noticed she had a son and that her younger brother didn't have to support said son) ;

"When we were at college " (this would be inconceivable - the boy was only now starting college and Levi had graduated many years before - he wouldn't be surprised if he came to know that the boy was still wearing diapers when he had started college) ;

"Friday night, at a bar" (the brat wasn't even old enough to drink, how could he be at a bar in a friday night? Only if he had a fake ID and ... well, this wouldn't be that unlikely, you never know with youth these days, unscratch that Levi, that's actually a good idea, spare yourself the torture of telling the truth).

Yes, one of those. Definitely one of those. And it would be definitely easier. But the universe, destiny, the stars, the Parcae or whatever more had decided that nothing would be easy for Levi. Ever.

Their relationship was far from normal and they both knew it.

Screw it, for moments he had been tempted to answer "On the Internet" but then he thought better - that would make it so that he looked like a creepy old man who was interested in starting relationships with boys fifteen years younger than him.

As he gave up and resigned himself to tell the truth, he tried to gather up the courage to answer:

"At my childhood friend's sister's son's christening."

That wasn't that bad. Honestly, christenings, weddings, and other similar events were actually appropriated places to meet new people. Having said that, the answer acquired a whole new different meaning when people realised that said christening had happened nineteen years ago and that **Eren** was his childhood friend's sister's son.

* * *

The situation got even more awkward when one notices that, nineteen years ago, Erwin was not only Levi's childhood friend, but also his boyfriend. But who could blame him?

It wasn't difficult to fall in love with Erwin Smith. It wasn't when Levi was fifteen and, if he were to be honest with himself, it wasn't now. The boy, three years older than him, was blond and tall and the embodiment of perfection. He transpired comfort and trust - he was that prototype of a hero and, in another life, Levi thought, he must have been one of some sorts. He was also his anchor, the one Levi needed when he was fifteen, the one Levi needed when he was thirty-four. The one that helped him deal with all the fucked up shit that happened on his life (and sometimes on his mind).

On account of that, he couldn't bring himself to deny Erwin his presence at his nephew's christening. He'd never seen the baby and he wasn't particularly keen of his boyfriend's sister but, regardless of that, no one at his family would deem his presence to be weird - Levi was a constant presence at the Smith's house since he was eleven. He often shared dinner with them, he often slept at their house (even more often when mom and dad were fighting and things were getting too loud), and he usually helped Erwin with the household chores, leaving the house impeccable while doing so (this had earned him a soft spot on Mrs. Smith's heart and she pampered him with food whenever he came over).

Also, Erwin claimed that he needed pleasant company in order to get over the weekend without murdering one of his cousins or any other relatives (everyone knows that family events of this sort can become murderous after a couple of hours).

And well, Levi actually liked Erwin's family, despite not looking like it. They were many and they talked too much and they were probably a bit nuts too but they were also warm and kind and everything Levi's family wasn't. To be embraced by them - to be loved by someone like Erwin who knew about his faults and his past - made him feel better even if it was just for a couple of hours.

So he was there. Around a lot of people he didn't know, around a lot of people he did know, standing side by side with Erwin and desperately wanting privacy. He couldn't help but wish that there were some kind of hidden room on which he could throw his boyfriend at the wall and kiss him wildly, his hands skimming through that expensive and beautifully worn tuxedo of his that fitted him so well and hugged him on all the right places. And then Erwin would switch their positions, press his weight onto the smaller boy's body and proceed to whisper obscene words and phrases on his ear. It wouldn't take long for both of them to be panting, heat consuming them until all it remained was them and the sound of each other's breathing.

Levi smirked at the context - he was thinking about all _that_ at a baptism party and the other was clueless about all that, charmingly smiling at everyone that came to them to say hi. Erwin was now talking with a short man whose bald spot was inefficiently hidden by a toupee. (and if Levi deemed him to be short you must imagine how short the man was and he couldn't help but smile at how ridiculous it looked to see Erwin besides someone so small and hell, was that how people saw them? - no it couldn't be, Levi wasn't _that_ small and he would still grow after all, he'd probably reach Erwin's jaw one day, ... right?)

He was submersed on his thoughts of how _he wasn't small_ or _I'm still going through puberty_ and so he couldn't point out the exact same time when Carla Jaeger appeared with her baby in front of them. One minute you are looking at an hideous toupee and then, bang, surprise, a baby has been thrown at you.

"Erwin, I need your help." she started to say as she handed the kid over to her brother's best friend -_ I'm the one you should be asking for help, missy, I'm the one that seems to be holding your baby and well, guess what, I don't like it a bit, who knows where this thing has been_ - and he couldn't hear much more as he was panicking because he had suddenly been trusted with a living thing.

He should have listened because then he would have told Carla straight in the eye that neither him or Erwin knew how to change diapers and no, she couldn't leave the kid for twenty minutes with them. So now he had a kid on his arms and Erwin had a baby bag hanging on his left arm.

"I hate your sister. I can definitely see the resemblance between you and the kid though. He has your eyebrows, Erwin, poor kid."

They managed to find the bathroom and so they laid the kid and started to work their way around the obnoxious amount of clothes he was wearing. When they finally reached the end of it and started taking off the diaper, Levi acknowledged that the kid hadn't done much of a mess (at least that).

He was starting to think that it wasn't that bad after all and that maybe babies weren't that bad of a _thing_ when baby pee started jetting towards him.

He hated kids after all - and Eren Jaeger was now reigning, proudly sitting at the top of the list of kids he hated the most.


	2. Troublesome

2. **troublesome**

"So, you remember Carla right?"

Erwin talked but Levi tried with all his will to pretend that he hadn't listened. When someone starts a conversation with the infamous "So, you remember ..." line it's because that something or someone that you're supposed to remember and which you most likely remember will be relevant in the near future. The problem was that Levi didn't want Clara to be relevant. Not now, not ever, and not certainly in the near future.

They were both sitting on the couch of the flat that was theirs since Levi had graduated, when they were still dating each other and were still pretty much on the puppy loving and rabbit fucking phase. Probably the only problem that came with them living together in the same place even after they'd split was that every single corner of that place reminded Levi of sex so much that he'd had to clean every spot of the house in a nervous breakdown during the two weeks that followed their parting. A lot of relationships don't survive when people take the next step and start living together. Theirs was no exception.

One year.

One year of occasional (and then more frequent) fights.

One year of love (and then, more frequently, make-up sex).

One year of domestic episodes, of taking baths together, of "I'm home"'s, of cooking together, of preparing his lunch because he left too early in the morning but not enough early for you to not be awake.

One year and they called it off.

Everyone expected that they would stop living together. After all, who can handle to live with their ex? But they weren't just ex-lovers. They'd been friends for as long as they remembered and heck, Levi had invested a lot in that relationship and also (especially) on that flat. It was now absolutely perfect for his tastes, with its sobriety and minimalist furniture, with all its cleanliness and efficiency, with his books perfectly placed on that expensive bookshelf that he had bought with the money from all his extra hours at that hideous retail job he'd had for a couple of months. Also, he'd just gotten out off college and he didn't have a stable income that would allow him to live alone - living at his parents house was also out of question.

After a long talk that had stretched into the night, they'd decided to start living together for an indefinite time.

Many years had passed and they still lived together.

Many years and some fights.

Many years and cuddling in the couch while watching sappy TV shows about cops that Erwin seemed to love for some undefined reason.

Many years and the only thing that changed was that there was now no sex in their lives (at least not with each other).

The rest remained exactly the same and Levi didn't want to change a thing. So no, he didn't want to remember Clara. He didn't care about Clara or any of the other people living in that petty little town (he could make an exception for Mrs. Smith, but the kind woman was now living at a nursing home, so yeah, he didn't care about anyone) and nothing good could ever come from them.

(He never told Erwin that he had met Clara many years ago at a coffee shop when he was coming back from his work - that work, at that shitty retail shop, selling expensive designer clothes that weren't that good anyway.

Clara wasn't there by chance - she was waiting for him._ She knows_, he thought. Of course she did - everyone had their suspicions but she had proof. She had been around town for two weeks now, and she knew, why did she know?

She told him to stop whatever he had going on with Erwin. She told him that he was holding her brother back from the happy future he was supposed to have. That Erwin was supposed to find a nice girl, marry her, have kids. That Erwin deserved better.

And he knew that. His boyfriend wasn't gay - he only loved _him_. He knew that and it hurt like a bitch.

So he called it off two months later.)

"She's your sister, how could I forget?" he mumbled, slight irritation stiffening his voice "What about her?"

Erwin turned out the TV, so Levi knew things were about to get serious and he wasn't quite sure he liked it. He pulled out quite the inquisitive eyebrows which put pressure on Erwin to start speaking now or to not speak at all for the remaining of their evening.

"She's getting a divorce."

"And what does that have to do with me?" the raven haired man asked as he got up to get a cup of water and perhaps start preparing dinner.

"With you precisely? Not much." Erwin started, not moving from his place at the couch "With us ... a lot."

"Go on."  
"She asked me if her kid could stay here for a couple of months, just until college starts. She's trying to settle things down with her ex and the situation is not the best at their home."

He hated the idea. He only had those months per year when he could get rid of teenagers and their quirks and fits and he wanted to enjoy them - having exactly one of those at home wasn't how he was supposed to get his rightful rest. Also, the kid was bound to be troublesome.

( 1) he was Carla's son - he never talked much with Carla's husband but if the kid had taken anything from his mother it would probably be her temper and he'd had to handle Carla's temper for years at the Smiths' house, so to say that it was _difficult_ would be one hell of an understatement.

2) he had pissed on him when he was only a couple months old - he'd had to take several baths that day in order to feel slightly clean again

3) he was nineteen - hell he knew how troublesome he had been when _he_ was nineteen, now imagine Carla's nineteen years old son who had pissed on him, that would be a whole new kind of troublesome )

He could simply get out of the house for that time. The problem was that he somehow knew that if he went to live on his own now, he'd never come back.

He wasn't ready for that goodbye.

He could handle him not loving him. He could handle him going out every Friday night to spend the night at Petra's. He could handle him not giving longing stares at him as if he were the most luscious thing in the world (as he used to). But he couldn't handle the fall out that was going to happen sooner or later, so if he could delay it for a little bit longer you can be sure that he would.

Hence him not asking if there weren't any relatives the brat could stay with or if the kid couldn't stay with his friends or even if his sister couldn't get her shit together faster. He didn't ask any of the questions that were lingering on his mind now but he did ask a question.

"When does he get here?"

"Tomorrow."

* * *

Eren was lost. Well, not figuratively speaking (maybe that too but he was never one to brood much about his situation) but like actually, genuinely, objectively lost. At a crowded airport. At 9 am, waiting for a man whom he had never seen in his entire life to come and find him so that he could bring him to a place where he didn't want to be but on which he would be forced to stay for roughly two months. He was screwed, he acknowledged it, and in that moment what he regretted the most was that exact moment when he had gotten bored of waiting and decided that going for a walk on a place he didn't know was a good idea.

So he did the only thing he could do: he waited. He sat at a nearby place, looked at the people passing by, most of them who were obviously tourists wearing their khaki shorts, flip flops, obnoxious t-shirts, and sun glasses. Some of them looked like they'd never seen the sun and Eren couldn't help but smile as he mused about how they would look by the end of their vacations with their irritated red skin. He then decided he should check his phone and tell Mikasa and Armin that he had arrived. He would miss them and he hated his mom for forcing him to travel half a country to live with his uncle (who he hadn't seen for four years now) miles away from his friends and he hated his parents for getting a divorce and he hated his father even more for never being there and making it so that his mom wanted a divorce. Because if it weren't for the divorce, he wouldn't be here and most of all, he hated being stuck in that place being that the only perk that came with it was the beach and the sea.

He ended typing the messages and, almost instantly after that, his phone started vibrating. He didn't expect Armin or Mikasa to answer that quickly but he soon realised that it hadn't been them sending the message.

_Where are you, kid? _  
_- Levi_

He guessed that his uncle had probably given the guy that was supposed to pick him up his number and he reckoned that said guy was probably this Levi fellow. He remembered faintly his grandma talking about a friend of Erwin called Levi who used to hang out at their house often.

_Next to the Starbucks, at the airport._

"Eren?"

Five minutes later and a man appeared right in front of him. The man was ... short. Shorter than him, actually, which was weird since Eren didn't consider himself to be particularly tall. After the shock of that first realisation, Eren got a better look at the man. He didn't look like his age. He didn't look Eren's age, but he definitely didn't look Erwin's age. If he had to take a guess based only on his looks he would say the man was on his late 20s. He was wearing a black somewhat tight shirt and skinny jeans which didn't make him look like the type of people that would hang out around Eren's uncle.

"Uh ... yeah."

"Have you had breakfast yet? Apart from the shitty stuff they give you at the airplane, I mean."

"No, sir." he answered as he stood up, picking his stuff from the ground.

The older man didn't say anything and simply started moving forward, making his way towards the exit of the airport. Eren got the hint and started to follow the man as carelessly as he was able to as he put his headphones on in an attempt to block out everything else. He had to be mentally prepared.

After all, today was going to be a long day.


	3. Caught In Between Green and Blue

3. **caught** **in between green and blue**

Carla's son looked a lot like her. He had her features, her hair colour, her skin tone, even his expressions all determined and strong willed, all of that was irrefutably Clara's. But one look at his eyes would make a complete difference for his were of this strange, beautiful hazel colour between green and blue. Mostly, they were pretty clear on their unclarity and Levi couldn't help but regard them as beautiful.

Then he would remind himself of how that was the kid who was going to disturb the balance of his home for months, the kid that had made it so that he was now unable to deal with babies out of fear of getting urine on his face. Probably that kid had given him some issues to add to the ones he already had just by purely existing. Then he would remember that Eren was the first on the list.

Also, he hated Erwin. He was a genius of course, he had found a way for him to escape the awkwardness of the boy's first day in the new town.

Today was Friday.

Friday.

The day Erwin spends with his girlfriend (and yes, this tradition was to be followed religiously, thank you very much).

Oh, of course the guy, dashing and considerate as he appeared to be, had offered to break the tradition just once as the boy was his and not Levi's nephew but he of course knew that Levi wouldn't allow that and such offer had been more of a polite way to manipulate Levi to take care of the kid than anything else. The tradition had been his guilt driven idea after all.

tl; dr You can't reschedule Friday, that's not how things work around here.

Today's Friday and he's sitting in a diner, looking discreetly at Eren as he gorges himself on an enormous french toast with some strawberries on the side and drinking his black coffee as he tries to figure out what he is going to do with the living being in front of him. He's used to dealing with teenagers. Emend that, he's used to have twenty or so teenagers in front of him, most of them trying to speak French and doing a lousy job at it - dealing with one of them 24/7 is not a requirement of the job and he was now glad it wasn't.

Eren was trying his hardest not to stare at Levi. He blamed his sudden interest on the fact that he hadn't had any kind of human interaction for the last couple of hours aside from his interaction with the flight attendant when she asked him if he wanted some coffee. He didn't like the bitterness of coffee and so he told her something along the lines of "No, thank you" and that was it.

His manner was serious and unrelenting, he looked as if he never smiled and Eren couldn't quite get it if this was because he was tense due to his presence or if he always acted like this. His eyes were dark and his sunken eyelids and dark circles made him look as if he were permanently bored or tired or perhaps both. His features, however, despite transpiring the same solemnity as everything else on him, were quite delicate, angular and handsome, beautiful even if he dared say.

Levi would also glance at Eren from time to time, although with more tact than the younger of both, especially at those eyes. Damn, that boy didn't deserve to have such eyes. The remaining of his face and body were standing slightly above average, but his eyes were something otherworldly entirely.

Ten minutes ago, right before they'd made their orders, there had been an attempt at conversation from Eren. He had been wondering that for a long time now, since he'd saw Levi's clothes and, following that, his car, which was black and looked incredibly pricey. He had been holding that question in because he knew it would be indelicate but at that moment he couldn't give two fucks if it was indelicate or not. The silence was agonising and he needed desperately to hear someone else's voice for a period that lasted for more than five seconds.

"So what do you exactly do?"

He regretted his question the moment it came out of his mouth and as soon as he saw the look on Levi's face. A mist of surprise and annoyance painted it and he appeared to be thinking why the hell he was talking to him. Yeah, Eren decided that he did care if he was being indelicate or not and despite knowing about the inevitability of death he also cared if he was going to die today, tomorrow, or in sixty or so years and he acknowledged that by the look on Levi's face said day was going to be today.

So it surprised him when Levi softened up and answered him.

"I'm a teacher."

No more, no less, and he was a bit disappointed. A teacher? What kind of teacher? Where did he teach, what did he teach? Something like physics perhaps or Maths, giving nightmares at all his students just because they didn't know how to solve a logarithmic equation or something. Eren was afraid to talk more but curiosity took over his sanity and he ended up opening that big mouth of his one more time.

"You don't look like a teacher."

"I guess."

That was the last word that was shared between them. For the remaining of the last ten minutes there was just silence, awkward asphyxiating silence hovering over them. That and the chattering of the people around them. The grandma that had brought his grandson to eat their breakfast out because she couldn't remember how to make pancakes. The couple of girls that were almost passing out from an hangover as they asked for two ginger ales. The family of four who were eating scrambled eggs as the mother told her youngest son to mind his manners and that no, you're not supposed to eat it with your hands, no matter how more delicious it tastes that way.

After a while, Levi thought he was going insane and that he probably preferred the slightly annoying tone of the other's voice to all that. Probably.

"How does a teacher look like?"

"Uh?" he mumbled as he put a mouthful of food on his mouth, his big hazel eyes looking at him in bewilderment.

"Are you deaf or something? Please eat that before answering."

He did as he was asked, still a bit taken aback at the situation though so he might have chewed it a bit too fast and a bit too energetically.

"Well, most teachers look either boring or too friendly for their own good, as if they always want to help you out and be friends with you. And you're neither."

"I don't look boring?"

"No, you look bored, which is different." he said, a bit too bluntly for Levi's tastes and he would have said something regarding that if the boy didn't continue before he could do so "You also ... I dunno ... dress differently."

He arched one of his eyebrows in wonder. He thought he had it toned down, to be honest. That's one of the problems of being a rebellious teenager back in the 90s, it never quite leaves you and you have the skinny black jeans and the leather jackets to prove. Also, Hanji used to tell him that skinny jeans could send someone to heaven when coupled with that fine butt of his. Which meant that the kid had most likely been looking at his ass. Always nice to know.

"What do you teach?"

"French."

Well, that was ... unexpected. Levi didn't look like a teacher in the first place now add "French Teacher" on top of that and it was all kinds of unexpected. He could imagine it though. The man, casually walking around the classroom, his chin up as he did so, his demeanour intimidating despite his height, speaking in perfect French with no hint of an English accent.

"I had Spanish in high school so ..."

"I didn't ask."

Eren had finished his breakfast by then and as soon as Levi noticed it he started gathering his stuff to leave. No more talking, just like that. He left a generous tip and then started to make his way to his black mercedes parked closely.

* * *

He didn't know what to expect when they finally arrived at his uncle's flat. The words that popped out on his mind once he saw it were white and clean. Also, once he saw the living room, he couldn't help but fall in love with the view. There was a massive clear window that allowed a perfect view to the shore. The sea was of the cleanest blue and the sand looked gold like. He couldn't help but want to go there at that precise moment and get over with this whole bullshit.

"Before you start drooling over my window, I have some things to say, okay?"

Eren looked away from the window and realised that he hadn't moved for a whole minute now.

"First, you do shit, you clean - and I'm not talking about shit like real shit, like that too, but not only that. The point here is, you make a mess, you are the one that is going to clean it up. Second, no eating outside the kitchen. There's a reason why the fridge is at the kitchen and not at the living room or at your damn bedroom. It's because you don't eat at those places. Honestly, it leaves crumbs everywhere and it's just plain gross. Third, you do not stay more than ten minutes at the shower. We have a strange relationship with the gas here and if I have to take a cold shower even once during your stay here, I'll start turning off the gas every single time you enter the bathroom and let's see how you like to have your balls frozen. Four, no, you can't go out at night. Your mother would kill me if she knew you were illegally drinking - and we both know you do that at home, there must be a reason why she didn't just hand you over to your friends or something. And lastly, be here for lunch and have your phone with you all the time."

He didn't quite get it at first but once he realised what Levi meant with that last part he just felt like storming out of the apartment and go feel the sand beneath his feet. He hadn't seen the sea since he were fifteen and that had been a long time ago. He missed it, the sea breeze, its salty taste, the feeling of the waves breaking on him. The sun kissing his skin. The girls in the bikinis.

Although girls in bikinis seemed less appealing once he started comparing them to Levi's butt which he'd had a perfect view of once the man had turned his back on him and started walking towards one of the rooms at the end of the hall. Eren had to admit it - that was one hell of an ass.


	4. Something That Matters

4. **something that matters**

He could feel every single grain of sand touching his back as he breathed in the breeze, the rays of sun gently warming up his skin. He realised how stupid he looked, just lying there on the sand without a towel underneath, but he missed the sensation of the sand on his body. It brought him memories of his childhood, when he lived in his father's family house by the shore, experiencing this every single day. Every day he would wake up and play in the beach with his friends. Every summer day he would swim on the sea first thing in the morning, knowing that when he came back home he would have a delicious breakfast prepared by his grandma waiting for him.

Grandma died, father sold the house and so they moved to Maria, mom's hometown. It hadn't been half bad, if he were to be honest. Despite the awfulness of his first year, he then met Armin and Mikasa and hadn't needed anyone else ever since. He was glad that dad had sold the house as he wouldn't have met them otherwise but sometimes he still missed living by the sea. His perfect world consisted of Armin and Mikasa living with him in his childhood home.

"Hey, sleeping beauty, we're trying to play here."

He slowly opened his eyes, blinking them repeatedly as he did so, a blurry tall figure appearing right in front of him.

"Who the hell are you?" he muttered, still a bit startled as he took a better look at the blond boy in front of him.

"Oi? That's what I should be asking."

"Well, you were the one waking me up."

"You were the one sleeping in the middle of the beach!"

"Jean, stop being an idiot. He's not from around."

A freckled guy was running towards them and Eren noticed a group of other people several feet away. He was incredibly tanned, the way you can only be when you spend almost every day at the beach, and he had a warm smile on his face and kind features. Eren could still hear the blond guy - Jean, he assumed - grumbling something about_ these bloody tourists_, but he decided to say nothing as the other boy shot him a reassuring smile and reached out for him.

"I'm Marco by the way. This jerk here is Jean but he is actually a nice guy when he's not being a douche."

Slowly the rest of the group joined them, a cute short blonde girl greeting him with a beaming smile as she approached Eren. Yeah. Cute girls in bikinis indeed (and by letting his mind wander, he ended up thinking about Levi's ass. Fuck it.)

Cute girls in bikinis.

Levi's ass.

But now ...

"Hey. I'm Eren."

Football.

He was going to kill the brat. Lunch._ Be here for lunch._ It was fucking twelve and a half. He had already sent him several messages and Eren had answered none. What if he had been kidnapped, or was now dying as he drowned in the sea, had joined the pornographic industry or was selling illegal good? Erwin was going to kill him and once Clara knew that Erwin had left Levi in charge of Eren she would be killing Erwin herself. At least he would die at Erwin's hands and not Clara's. Bless the gods. What was he thinking, letting the boy go wander alone. Yes, they lived right in front of the beach, so it wasn't likely for him to get lost, but it was still very irresponsible of him. Great, Levi, just great.

He didn't know if he was thankful or mad when he saw the boy entering the house, hair completely wet, t-shirt hanging on his shoulder, abs showing. He had to admit that despite not having the best body in the world, Eren could still manage to look hot with his boyish charm and looks. Wait, Levi, focus, don't let your dick take control of the situation (remember, no matter how much it doesn't seem like it, you have students only one year younger than him - would you think this kind of stuff about one of your students? No. You know why? Because that's gross.).

Lunch. Late. Clara's son. Clara's nineteen year old son. Clara's nineteen year old _idiot_ of a son. Dripping wet. Ruining his floor. Selling drugs, getting drunk, drowning in the sea. Showing up late for lunch. He probably had brought sand in with him. Fucker.

"So they don't teach you how to use your cellphones at where you're from?" he snapped.

"Uh ... you told me to be here for lunch. It's twelve and a half."

"Precisely."

"I ..." Eren didn't know what to say and he was trying his best to keep his temper down "I was playing football and lost track of time. Sorry."

"I don't fucking care. You could be taking a shit for all I cared, you still have to reply my messages as long as you're my responsibility"

"For fuck's sake, it's twelve and a half. I'm what? Five minutes late? Don't you think that maybe you're overreacting a bit? I'm not a kid ."

"You sure as hell are acting like one if you don't check your phone when you're staying at a new city!" Levi sighed as he went to the bathroom to grab a towel "Dry your hair before stepping into my living room. Also, you're fifteen minutes late. You would have known this if you had checked your phone."

A couple of minutes later and they both ate in silence, Eren not daring to make a sound after what had happened, Levi too angry (at the kid, at himself) to speak. The atmosphere surrounding them was tense and he hated it. If it was going to be like this every single Friday, Levi's mental well being was doomed. He thanked the gods when he heard the sound of the phone ringing in the background, giving him an excuse to stand up and get away from such an uneasiness filled square foot.

It was Erwin asking how things were going. Terrific, he'd answered, and in that moment Erwin knew the man was pissed. He asked what had happened and Levi told him everything was fine, there's nothing to worry, go back to your girlfriend, all those sort of things all said in a blistering pace despite the unconcerned tone of his voice. The man in the other side heaved a sigh as he said his goodbyes, promising to be there first thing in the morning.

When he turned back to the table, all Levi saw was a young man playing absent-minded with the fork and the food in his plate, lost in reflective contemplation. Levi realised that he was probably being too harsh, that Eren was not to blame for his shitty Friday (Fridays were always shitty for Levi), that he was probably feeling shitty himself because of all that was happening back at home.

"So, kid ... I ..."

"I'm sorry." Eren interrupted him, talking before he could finish his sentence, his tone giving away the impression that he had been thinking about this and planning out what he was about to say for a few minutes now "I should have checked my phone earlier and I probably made you worry and it's not fair for you that I talked back like that when you should not have to take care of me in the first place. It won't happen again."

"Tsch."

Levi rolled his eyes and sat down on the table, not showing how amused he was with the situation behind that cold mask of indifference. The boy, however, was visibly puzzled as he didn't expect that kind of outcome from his apology. The man turned his attention back to the plate and went back to eat his carefully prepared meal.

"Do you want to do anything for the afternoon?"

"Excuse me?"

"I asked if you wanted to do anything this afternoon. Go shopping, see the sights, whatever."

"Uh, I guess I'd be fine with anything. You don't need to go out of your way to do this."

"Anything is not an answer. Be specific or say nothing at all." Levi said, his voice full with fake annoyance.

Eren thought for a few seconds. He was not someone who enjoyed to spend the whole day doing nothing and if he refused Levi's offer he might as well accept the fact that he was going to waste his afternoon watching corny soap operas on the TV.

"Getting to know the city would be nice."

* * *

Eren had changed to some boardshorts and a shirt and now he walked down the lane alongside Levi, who was sporting some black shades, a navy blue tee and, again, the same tight black jeans. Eren couldn't help but wonder if the man ever wore shorts because he could feel his whole body burning with the heat, so one can imagine what would happen if he were to be wearing jeans. It didn't look like Levi minded the hot weather though and Eren couldn't picture Levi wearing shorts anyways and, to be honest with himself, he preferred things this way. Shorts are too baggy unless they are those really short shorts women wear and ... never mind.

The city was colourful - the clothes of thousands of people, the marble of the monuments, the shades of the shops, the buildings's grey, the cloudless blue from the sky and the cyan colour of the sea. It was a pleasant place to live but it was also extremely windy, but that could also be seen as a plus when you take into consideration that it was almost 95 degrees outside.

Two hours had passed now, two hours spent just walking around, sightseeing or even buying some things Eren would need during his stay in Trost. Mostly, they remained silent, but such silence wasn't as awkward as the one that had taken place during lunch - it was comfortable, perhaps even pleasant. They were both now sitting in a bench, Levi reclining on it as he took a drag from his cigarette.

"You don't have to sit by my side while I'm smoking, you know." he said as he exhaled the smoke, breaking the silence with his remark "Secondhand smoking is bad for your health, that's why I'm doing this away from people. You sitting here kind of defeats the purpose."

"Then why don't you quit if it's so bad for your health?" Eren replied.

He snorted. "What a little genius we are!"

Levi had started smoking when he was just fourteen and hadn't quitted ever since. He did acknowledge that it was a disgusting habit, eating away his lungs, the musty smell of the smoke ruining all his clothes. He never smoked inside for that exact same reason and always tried to cover up the smell from himself afterwards. That having been said, he'd never thought about quitting.

The smell of tobacco evoked on him nostalgic memories. He was three then, he still hadn't been diagnosed, and his grandfather hadn't died yet (he would though, two years later - lung cancer, inevitable, grandma had said). Grandad Jaeger spoke almost only German and most of the time Eren couldn't understand what he was saying. Nonetheless, Eren liked his company, playing with the wooden toys he had built for him and his grandfather smoking his cigars on the porch as he laid a careful eye on him.

The scent of Levi's resembled more pure tobacco than common cigarettes and, apart from the feelings it awakened, Eren felt intrigued by Levi's ability to shape the smoke effortlessly. So he didn't walk away.

"You really don't look like a teacher"

"Getting repetitive, are we?" he mocked, a hint of a smirk appearing on the corner of his lips.

"It's just ... so underwhelming, you know. I can't help but wonder why you would be doing that."

"It pays well."

"That's it?" he asked, disappointment lingering on his voice.

"Yeah ... that's it. That's why people have jobs. You do something and you get paid in return."

"There are other jobs that pay just as well." Eren's idealistic personality started showing off "Jobs that matter, to you, to others. Jobs that make a difference. It's not just about money."

"So what you're telling me is that teaching French doesn't matter?" he asked, his eyebrows getting slowly closer to his forehead, as he looked at the boy in a mist of amusement and surprise at the boldness of his statement. He hadn't been offended by what the kid had just said, but the thought of Eren getting uncomfortable and trying to come up with an answer to that was positively delightful.

Eren, as expected, got immediately flustered, suddenly realising the implications of what he had just said. Great Jaeger. He didn't know how to answer that but somehow he knew that Levi expected a reply for him.

"I ..."

"What do you want to do with your life, then?"

Well, that was unexpected. "Do you really care?" he couldn't help but ask that even though he already knew the answer.

"No."

"I figured."

He didn't even try to hide the smile on his face as he said that and looked at Levi, who was now tossing the cigarette end in a nearby trash can.

"It's nice that you don't though, as I don't really have any idea."

Levi also hadn't known what he wanted to do with his life when he had been Eren's age and he probably didn't know if he had made the right choice. Yes, teaching gave him economical security, something to occupy his time with, and awful headaches that filled his mind, but he couldn't say that he liked it or that it gave him a sense of accomplishment. It was easy, the income was fairly generous for someone who shared an apartment and who had no kids, and it was kind of enjoyable to be in a position of authority. However, from what he had seen of the kid, he had a fire within him. A sense of purpose and amazingly strong willpower. It was unsettling the thought of someone like him not knowing what he wanted to do with his life.

"What about all that romantic nonsense about doing something that matters and making a difference?"

"I know I want to make a difference, I just don't know what I'm going to do exactly."

Levi pondered for a few seconds before asking. "Have you tried the army?"

"Asthma."

Oh. That's it, he was definitely going to murder the kid.

"You tell me that after I've smoked right next to you?" Levi closed his eyes as he scratched the back of his neck in frustration "Do you have a death wish or something, brat?"

"It's controlled, no worry. It's not that bad, I don't usually have any incidents if I don't mess up with the medication, but it's still bad enough for them to deny my application." he smiled bitterly "By the way, stop calling me brat. I'm not a kid."

"You're nineteen. You are a kid."

"How old are you anyway?" he growled.

"That's rude."

"Just answer the question please, honestly, I'm curious."

Meanwhile, they had both gotten up, Levi leaping up to his feet gracefully, Eren following afterwards still eagerly waiting for his answer. The older man still considered for some moments if he should answer truthfully or not and for a second he did consider telling the kid he was fifty or something just to see the look on his face. He loved to push other people's buttons and the way the boy's face worked, all honest and transparent, was simply entertaining to watch, no matter how much he wouldn't say it out load.

"Thirty-four."

"Bullshit."

"Language, kid. Language."

It seemed he didn't have to lie to get that kind of reaction from him and the way his mouth was now shaped in a sulky pout as he looked around, sometimes peeking at Levi as they made their way back to the complex, filled him with amusement.

"Thirty-four." he said again after some minutes, still a bit skeptically "Thirty-four? You don't look thirty-four."


	5. (Not a) Kid

**5. (not a) kid**

Despite Eren being Erwin's family and not his, Levi was the one who spent most time around the boy. Erwin works during the week, his work shifts are odd to say the least, and most of the time he comes home completely tired out. This used to be a good thing for Levi because it meant getting to soothe Erwin as he ran his fingers through his hair, the blonde's head resting on his lap.

With Eren staying there though, Erwin coming home exhausted meant exactly just that - him being exhausted. He didn't want to explain his nineteen year old nephew the nature of his relationship with Levi and Levi had never been a fan of public display of affection in the first place, even if such affection consisted of mostly platonic fondness. So when Erwin came home from work, he would eat dinner which Levi had prepared for him, take a shower, and then go to bed.

That's the logical explanation for why he ended up bonding with Eren. Being a teacher, Levi had plenty of time during summer, something that Erwin didn't. Someone had to take one for the team and keep an eye on the kid and Levi ended up being that lucky someone.

The** kid.** At first, Eren had taken the nickname lightheartedly. Levi was probably just warming up to him, he wasn't going to call him kid forever, ... right? Almost one week in and he realised that if he were to stop it would have happened by now. As it hadn't, he accepted he would probably be the _kid_ for the remaining of his summer and it was really starting to get on his nerves.

That and his increasing attraction for the man. Eren already knew before coming to Trost that he wasn't exactly the straightest man alive as, and now I quote, sexuality is a spectrum and being exclusively heterosexual is something most people are not despite the common belief such thing is the norm (jeez, thanks Mikasa). That being said, Eren never before had considered a man to be as attractive as Levi was, in all his witty and sometimes ill-tempered glory.

Levi was far from oblivious and Eren knew he noticed, even if they never talked about it. At times, Eren could swear that Levi was actually putting an effort on inciting such attraction being that the only way one could reason what Eren's bewildered eyes were looking upon at half past nine in the morning. Levi was wearing nothing but really tight black underwear (_oh, boxers it is, I figured_). It was the first time he saw Levi with almost no clothes on and he had to admit the sight was all kinds of unexpected (but especially the good). Despite his lean and skinny appearance when wearing clothes, Levi was quite muscular, incredibly so for a man of his line of work, and despite his attention to his image even him seemed to suffer of bed hair in the morning.

"Take a picture, it will last longer."

Eren said nothing, already accustomed to the verbal teasing, unaffectedly finishing to prepare his breakfast before sitting in the small round kitchen table. Levi didn't take his eyes off the book laying open in front of him as he took a sip of dark coffee out of his mug. Curiosity took over Eren and so he leant forwards towards Levi's side of the table, trying to grasp what he was reading. It was an hardcover book and its pages were filled with annotations, some sentences had even been highlighted with yellow, and the paper and the book spine were almost completely worn out.

"Stop staring, brat."

He ignored Levi's request and swiped the book, staring at it as it rested quizzically in his hands.

"One of these days I'm going to introduce you to my right foot." he snarled, finally looking into Eren's eyes for the first time in that morning "Now why did you even do that, you know you won't be able to read it."

"Wanna bet?" the boy said, filled with bravado. Levi threw him a defiant, semi-interested look as he put down his mug and crossed his arms in a challenging manner. Eren put a concentrated effort into trying to understand something of what was written, but he soon realised that he would probably be just as lucky if he had Japanese in front of him and so not nearly a minute had passed before he gave up "Yeah, it's not going to happen."

Levi picked up the book from his hands and hit the boy's forehead with its back, making him grunt with discomfort.

"That was uncalled for." he moaned bitterly.

"You deserved it. Also, your language skills are shit. Are you sure you can even speak Spanish properly?."

He remembered what Eren had said about having taken Spanish in high school and he faintly blushed at such thought. It was true he had learnt Spanish but it was also true that he had never been very good at it.

"Well, _un poquito?" _he answered, lacking his usual confidence, his voice conveying more of a whisper than a proper sentence.

"Say something in Spanish then." Levi dared as he got up to put the book back in place, staying more time with his back turned on Eren than it was strictly necessary.

"_Algo..._"

Levi turned back and glared at the brown haired boy as he rolled his eyes. "Really, you're _so_ clever, kid."

Eren felt really smug after Levi's remark for he could note a hint of amusement on his voice.

"So, when are you going to stop calling me kid, by the way?"

He didn't answer and simply scratched the back of his head as he walked towards the bathroom door, his lips slightly turning up as if he was unsuccessfully trying to conceal a smile.

"Don't forget to clean the kitchen before going out, kid." he shouted, making sure he stressed that last part.

He closed the door but was still able to hear Eren's repressed cry of frustration and he couldn't help but think that maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to sleep in more often.

* * *

The remaining of his day was spent with Jean and the others, getting lunch with them in an attempt to avoid Levi until night came. They were now hanging out at Connie's, watching some random horror movie about giant people that ate tiny (or well, normal-sized) people. Sasha, one of the girls in the group, was shit-scared, grabbing onto Connie's shirt as she trembled and tried to hold on a cry, and Connie himself was probably as scared as she was, pushing her away because "with that enormous appetite of yours, you'll probably eat me too!".

When the movie ended they just stared at each other awkwardly in silence for a few minutes and then got up and made their ways to the house's backyard. The stretched cloth on the grass was quickly filled with food and then they sat down with some cards and started playing.

"So where are you from, exactly?" Jean asked, as he put two cards in the middle of the circle "Two Aces."

"Saint Maria." Eren answered, putting down a card which he nervously claimed to be a two.

"Bullshit!" Jean shouted with a grin on his face as he picked the card up "Your lying is awful, Jaeger."

Eren huffed as he reached for the cards in the middle, picking them up as Jean smirked. Marco elbowed him and Jean's smirk immediately disappeared of his face and in return came a complaint about how he was just joking and Marco should get off his ass.

"Are you here with your family?" Christa, the cute blonde girl from the beach, smiled as she asked it, and Eren thought she was probably the sweetest girl in the world with that bright smile, pretty face, and caring eyes until she cried a very audible and aggressive _Bullshit_ to Ymir, the brunette sitting beside her.

"Uh ... well, yes and no. I'm staying with my uncle for the summer ..."

They continued to play the game not at all in silence, talking about trivial matters as, for example, if Eren was enjoying it here, about how Sasha had obviously just farted ("No I didn't!"), their plans for the next day, ...

Eren had never been one to have many friends. His temper was horrible, he lashed out at people frequently and he had a, well, how had Mikasa put it again, ... an hero syndrome. When he saw something he deemed to be wrong, he would voice his displeasure. While Mikasa lived next door, it was due to one of those situations that he had met Armin - by trying to help him out when he was being bullied and getting himself beaten up in the process.

Again, he hadn't had a large group of friends since he'd moved to Maria. He liked it that way, to be honest, but seeing himself surrounded by people who were friendly (for the most part) to him was actually nice for a change.

He didn't even bother to track the time while he was there, despite checking his phone every other time to see if Levi had sent any messages. None for the most part, which was a good thing. He wondered what he was doing right now. Maybe cleaning the house or reading the book or maybe he was on that secret agent job of his he denied to have every single time Eren asked him about it. One can't be that fit and a teacher, it's against the laws that made the world predictable and told us what to expect. When he finally grasped what time it was when it was already slightly too late.

"Shit! I've got to go now or Levi will kick me out." he said, starting to grab his things and making his way out.

"Levi?" Ymir asked.

"Yeah, my uncle's roommate ..."

Connie put down his drink and stared stunned at Eren "Wait ..._ Levi_'s your uncle's roommate? _The_ Levi?"

"Wait ... not the jeans guy, I'm pretty sure he died like a century ago ... he's a teacher."

"Bullshit!" Jean cried, standing up "You're a really lousy liar Eren, I've told you that."

"Actually, I'm a pretty good liar, I've been lying for the past half an hour, I think that's the point of the game, and you have only caught me like three or four times and that's because I wanted you to and what the hell am I even talking about?" Eren started to pick his things up, still not knowing what such commotion was all about "What's the big deal with Levi anyway? Why would I lie about that?"

"You've said it yourself, Eren. He's a teacher." Marco, who had stayed quiet until then, spoke up. "Our high school French teacher."

"And he's quite the legend around here frankly, no one knows anything about his life outside school." Christa added.

"He's probably the reason half the school wants to take French and the other half wants to stay away from it." Jean's remark brought a nod of confirmation from both Connie and Sasha. "I don't know if I should be disappointed or happy this was our last year with him."

"So how's he at home?"

"Is he actually a drug lord?"

"Does he have a hot foreign girlfriend?"

Eren sat down again, resigning himself to the thought that they wouldn't probably leave him alone if he didn't provide them with some answers.

"The answer is ... I don't really know? To all of those questions. He's a pain in the ass but I haven't been around him for more than a few days and he's not the type to show a lot of things. And in my opinion he is more of the secret agent type than the drug lord type."

"What if he was a drug lord and then decided to become a secret agent to redeem himself?"

"That's ... not unlikely, actually." Eren pondered. "I can see that happening."

They all laughed and started to share their opinions on the French teacher, Eren openly laughing about most of them and thinking to himself that he would not be able to face the man with a straight face this evening.

* * *

Petra stirred her cup of tea slowly, gazing at the circles it would make on the liquid as she breathed in its soft aroma. As she sipped at her tea, she noted it to be perfectly done, as it was to be expected from the man who made it. They were at his house and conversation flew naturally in such a different way from when she had been just a young college girl crushing on her upperclassman. She smiled as she looked back on those years when she would study him from apart, knowing his classes, his (few) friends, where he liked to hang out, and finally, how he liked his coffee. She was proud to say that even after all those years she could still brew him the perfect coffee. That's how they had officially met - she started working at the coffee shop he usually went to and from among everyone else he liked her the most for she was the only one who could make a cup of coffee perfect for his tastes.

"So how's Erwin's nephew?"

"Eren's a pain in the ass." he answered with all honesty "But he's a good kid."

"I've never heard you refer to someone his age as a good kid."

"Maybe it's because I don't have to teach him and so he won't give me a damned headache by the end of the day."

"You just said he was a pain in the ass, so he probably gives you more than just a headache." Petra noted, her smile reaching her eyes as she got progressively more amused "Are you sure you aren't growing fond of him?"

"Think about what you just said for a few seconds and then you'll get why I won't answer you."

She thunk petulantly for a few seconds, and then her eyes opened up, her pupils dilated and her eyebrows shot up. She blushed nervously and then looked incredulously to Levi.

"You know that was not what I meant! Stop avoiding the question, please."

"I'm not avoiding anything since there's nothing to avoid, Petra." his tone didn't rise once, his irritation wasn't notable, and his voice was, as usual, deprived from any sentiment.

This part of him used to annoy Petra in the beginning when she grew closer to him and got to know the real Levi and not the idolised image she had of him. But then she also got to know his quirks, and the way he expressed himself, and that behind the disguise he put on every day, there was someone who cared - probably too much for his own good. With Levi, you either love him or hate him. There's no in between.

"Okay then, if you're not telling me more, I'll just invite myself over for dinner."

"Erwin will probably get home late so it would be just the three of us" he sighed, lifted up his left wrist and looked at his watch "And we'll have to go get take away."

"Why don't we just order pizza?" she asked, but his glare made her reconsider "Yeah, bad idea. But yeah, you could probably go get take away at some nice place that gets your approval and I'll stay here and talk with Eren."

He didn't feel like letting Eren alone with Petra, but it was always better than letting him alone with Hanji. It was getting late and Eren should be coming home by now. He pulled out his cellphone and started to write a message telling him to come home, but the boy had extraordinary timing.

"Sorry, I know it's late." Eren said between breathes, panting in an attempt to get his breath back as he stood at the front door.

"You came here running?" Levi asked, looking at Petra from the corner of his eye.

"It's not like I have a car or do I?" he finally recovered and looked at the strawberry-blonde woman now looking at him with a huge grin "Hmm, good evening. I'm Eren."

She said nothing at all for a straight minute, looking him up and down. She was cute, Eren thought. She had this adorable bob cut that framed her face really nicely and she was wearing a knee-length green summer dress and white sandals. She also managed to be shorter than Levi, although only slightly, probably a inch or two.

"God, he really looks like his mother!" she blurted.

"He does, doesn't he? Scary."

"I think it suits him, Levi" the woman retorted, standing up and going towards Eren as she pulled him into a hug "I'm Petra."

"Uh ... Erwin's girlfriend?" he asked, still being held by her embrace.

"Yes! And your company for the rest of the evening."

Levi sighed and picked up his car keys from the key holder which hanged on the hall next to the front door. "I guess that's my cue." And as soon as he said, he was gone and Eren was left with Petra.

"What was that all about?"

Petra walked in short hops towards the kitchen cupboards "Would you tell me where the plates are, Eren?"

He reached for the middle shelf and got three plates for her. Levi always kept the things he'd need at a reachable height so that he wouldn't need to ask for help or grab a chair to get them. Eren imagined Levi standing on top of a chair on his tip toes, stretching his arms, and giggled at the thought

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, nothing."

"Well, are you enjoying it here?" she asked as she laid the plates on the table.

"Yeah, the city is lovely. I miss my friends though."

Eren often thought about Mikasa and Armin. He wished they were there with him, but the trip was expensive and where the hell would they stay? The flat wasn't made for more than three people and Levi would probably freak out at the idea of having three teenagers living with him.

"I've been living here my whole life." Petra said, her voice nostalgic and a twinkle forming in her eyes "I've only left once and it was to go to college. I met Levi there and through Levi I met your uncle. I was so happy when I found out he was going to live here."

"Erwin?"

"No, Levi. I had yet to meet Erwin then." her smile reached her eyes and she was really pretty "I had quite the crush on Levi then."

"Really?"

Eren was amused by the thought. He wanted to hear her talk about Levi. This would be the first time he would hear an opinion on the man that came from someone who actually knew him and not from his students who had fun on creating crackpot theories about him.

"Yeah. I bet you can't see it since you don't really know him and you didn't know him back then. He was really cool despite his height. He was almost always seen alone or with only a friend or two, never more. He got in fights all the time and wore leather. You know how everything is better with leather."

"Still don't know how he ended up a French teacher then."

"Neither do I, Eren, neither do I. It's just ... you don't get what you expect with Levi. You get into his high school halls and you hear what they say about him and you expect this stern man capable of making teenagers listen to him. He's stern, they say, but at the same time inviting. And then you approach him outside of school and you get this socially awkward short guy who can't tell a joke and comes out as cold because he doesn't know better. Once you get to know him, you have this man who actually cares and who feels so much, but of whom you can only scratch the surface. To be honest, I think the only person who really knows him and who ever will is your uncle."

Petra seemed hurt, her eyes were almost closed now and her lips were open as she looked to nowhere in special.

"I'm glad I met him, though, or otherwise I wouldn't have learned a very valuable lesson." she smirked now, considering if she should tell it or not.

"What is it?" Eren asked with genuine curiosity.

"Never fall for the gay guy."

* * *

**A/N: Thank you all so much for the reviews and favs and follows, you guys are the best. I'm really sorry for updating this so late but I've been 'busy' with almost two weeks of vacation in a place where I hardly had access to my computer and on which it wouldn't be considered reasonable to be writing fanfiction and then I've been actually busy with all the madness that happens before entering college and I'll just end this with this piece of information - 6 hours in a queue. **

**This was the last chapter I needed to build things like dynamics and background and on the next chapter I'll (finally) start the scenes that have appeared to me first and somehow inspired this fanfic so yeah, some romance and actual plot awaits and probably more frequent updates since I actually have things planned from this way on (and I hope to wrap this fanfic before school's work load starts to get too difficult to handle so I will really need to update more often to be able to finish this).**

**Reviews are welcomed and I cherish every single one. If you haven't noticed it yet by the way, this story is also on ao3 under the same name. **


	6. Stray Dog

**6. stray dog**

Rose's Garden Festival was the most important event in Trost, maybe even in the whole Rose district. At least this was what Eren had been told. It was the most eventful week of the year and everyone from the city and surrounding areas would engage on it in some kind of way.

How he knew all of this information? His new found friends wouldn't shut up about it. In all honesty, he was a bit tired of hearing about it, even if Christa knew a whole deal about the actual history of the festival which was relatively interesting but at the same time boring as fuck. He had ended up being lectured on the festival because Connie said it had appeared just so people could party all week long and so Christa went on and on about how some stories claimed the festival had its roots on some kind of pagan festivity to honour a goddess who protected the village Trost once was, a tradition which has been centuries later adopted by the Catholic Church as a way to honour Saint Rose, the patroness of the city, and then evolving into a week centred around young people with amazing night events, but which preserved some of its traditions as the Rose's Day (although Ymir had interrupted Christa before she could finish explaining what this last one was).

Jean and the others were all, in Eren's humble opinion, a little too invested on all of it and so they were already making plans for the whole week, including a night out, an old tradition of theirs and which Eren most certainly had to go to. Even his uncle looked more gleeful than usual ( at least as much as a man who always looked shit tired could be).

Who didn't look happy with prospect of Rose's Garden was Levi, however. The logic behind his melancholic mood was actually understandable as more people in the streets meant more dirt, more sweat, and, last but not least annoying, more noise. As the week was approaching the man was progressively more easily irritable. That Rose's Garden was the sole reason for his bad mood could be up for debate as it could also be due to the fact that since the boy's conversation with Petra the recent subject of his interest (read as: Eren Jaeger) had started to be less comfortable and more awkward around him.

He knew he shouldn't have let the kid around her for that long but considering that Petra was the most reasonable of his friends, on that night he thought that the damage she could possibly do to him couldn't be so bad. He then realised he was wrong, for Petra could be just as insane as Hanji and as calculative as Erwin, and such combination is something to be definitely afraid of. She probably had told him something she knew would affect him, thus explaining his behaviour. He by then reached the conclusion it was likely she had told him. Two days after this realisation, Levi had come to terms with the kid knowing and now he only needed to grasp the exact extent of said knowledge. Adding up to his state of displeasure, he was now caught up between a situation he had never expected to be on since he started to understand dicks were indeed is thing, event which dated back to the past century.

"No." Levi's voice was calm and he said this only once, not expecting Eren to fight back after such an forceful refusal to cooperate.

"You're not the one responsible for me." the brunette boy protested, glancing at Erwin in an attempt to ask for support "Please, uncle Erwin?"

"Well-"

"I'm not the one responsible for you, but I'm the one who is going to have to deal with your hangover the morning after." Levi cut Erwin before he could even answer.

"I'm underage! I can't drink!"

"It doesn't mean you won't. You're friends with Springles and the others. They're my students. I've more than once had them in my class after party night." Levi moved his eyes towards Eren's, not breaking eye contact "And your uncle may be an old fart but I'm not that old. I know what one does at Rose's Garden Big night out. Your mother would kick his balls and cut my dick if she knew."

"C'mon Levi, he's not a kid, let him have some fun. I doubt they can get themselves much alcohol to get wasted on. And besides, in Europe he's already legal." Erwin joked.

"We don't live in Europe. You really have no idea what you're getting me into, Erwin Smith."

"You may go, Eren, don't worry about it."

"Casual reminder I'm not going to clean yours or anyone else's vomit, so if you have to throw up do it outside or keep it inside." Levi got up, looking fiercely towards Erwin's eyes in a way to reprimand the man for his poor excuse of adult behaviour, and went outside.

The cigarette rested between his fingers, not lit, simply there. He saw a lot of himself in Eren and that scared him. Despite the way he acted, despite his carefree attitude, the boy was hurting. The situation at home was most certainly not just a plain divorce - if it were, there would be no reason for Carla to send the boy halfway across the country.

He could see in his eyes everything he once saw in his own reflection. Guilt. Pain. Sorrow. And then, hidden, scarcely shown, something entirely different from his for whereas Levi's eyes had been lifeless, Eren's had this immense fire on them.

He lit the cigarette. Consuming the fire between his fingers, draining away his life between his lips. Cigarettes. As ironic as it seems, suicidal tendencies are hard to kill and smoking was the most socially acceptable and widespread of them all.

"Levi?" Erwin's voice. If it weren't for him, the man wouldn't know where he would have been now. Every time he looked at him he fell more in love. It wasn't fair. Erwin deserved more than a faulty, broken piece of shit.

"You're too easy on the kid."

"He's not a kid, Levi." he stated softly, patting the raven haired man on the back.

"I know." he said this more to reassure that he knew that himself than to Erwin, although he still scanned for his eyes during a brief moment. "He's broken, Erwin"

"He's not you, Levi. He's not going to deal with what you had to." he stressed.

"I hope not. But I now know why you did what you did for me. I feel a sense of responsibility."

Erwin looked hurt as he closed his eyes for some seconds, briefly, his mind wandering just in a blink of a eye. "Your sister's not telling the whole truth."

"I know."

"I'm not sure if the kid knows it though."

"I know." he repeated.

"Partying and getting drunk is not the answer. What he's repressing is going to come to the surface in the end."

"I know."

Once again, Erwin always knew.

"Bastard." Levi finished the cigarette, threw it away, and made his way back to the flat.

* * *

"Today you're going to do chores with me, brat."

"Is this punishment for not getting your way yesterday?"

Smartass. Levi didn't want to walk around the subject anymore and decided to be straightforward. Although even if Eren told him straight away, he wasn't going to escape cleaning.

"No, it's me trying to find out what the hell Petra told you for you to suddenly ignore me for almost a whole week." Eren's neck and face were completely flushed and his eyes looked straight to the floor.

"I ..."

"Fuck it, I'm not going to dance around this. She told you I'm gay, didn't she?"

Now the boy's face had turned completely blank, the only emotion trespassing being through his eyes. How does one even answer without turning his actions over the past days into something really offensive. It's not like he could tell Levi the reason he had been acting awkward around him wasn't because he thought it was disgusting for him to be gay but the fact his crush for the man had gotten a boost after knowing so.

"I'm not homophobic I just ... there's nothing wrong with you being ... I don't ..."

"Just shut up. Stop overreacting it, you're making it impossible to live with you. Calm down"

He obeyed and picked up the broom which was being handed to him, following Levi towards the study. He'd never entered there before. It was organised, as one would expect from Levi, but at the same time it was probably the most personal room in the whole apartment and only then did he realise the bookshelf which rested in the corner of the living room had only been a sample of the enormous amount of books placed on the shelves of the walls. Most of them, Eren assumed, were Levi's, and he couldn't help but wander between titles. If you know the books one reads you might even discover one's character.

"Did you always enjoy reading this much?"

"Who says I enjoy it?" Levi asked as he took two cloths from a pile he had brought to the room and tossed one to Eren "I'm a French and German major. You start reading, you get the hang of it, it starts to become fun. But, when I was your age I hated it."

"Why French and German?"

"I spoke French since I was a little boy. It was easy, your uncle urged me to get a degree. Then German kind of just snuck up on me. Now clean the dust."

Eren disliked cleaning but he didn't voice a single protest when he was told to by Levi. He limited himself to unfold the cloth and start cleaning, seeing this as an opportunity to try and find something interesting. He found some books in German and one of them caught his eye, so he opened it and started to read it. Die Verwandlung The Metamorphosis. He hadn't spoken German in ages now and the first line invited him to read out loud.

"Als Gregor Samsa eines Morgens aus unruhigen Träumen erwachte, ..." "

Fand er sich in seinem Bett zu einem ungeheuren Ungeziefer verwandelt." Levi delivered, not stopping what he was doing, completely from his memory "So you do speak German. I must say your accent is a lot better than mine, mine is shit."

"Thank you."

The boy shyly blushed, not accustomed to having a compliment from Levi directed to him.

"Say, do you sometimes feel yourself changing into a monstrous vermin?"

"Excuse me?"

"No? What about a a lizard? A fly perhaps? If I smashed you, you'd learn not to stop working then."

It seemed he was quite talkative today. Eren really enjoyed Levi when he was on one of these days, as its manner of speech changed from simply authoritarian and insulting to colloquial, brusque, even vulgar but with hints of civility and eloquence. It was curious and paradoxical but it suited him well and, to Eren, it made him even more exquisite and interesting.

On the shelves, between books, he would also sometimes find photographs. Levi wasn't on most of them unfortunately. Erwin, on the other hand, was almost a constant. Some pictures were of the blond with friends, sometimes alone. He looked uncomfortable when in group but looked especially happy on the alone ones, smiling with complicity towards the photographer or, in this case, the beholder.

One of the few that included the raven haired man caught his eye - he was younger, really younger, probably around Eren's age or on his early twenties. But it was not only this that surprised him, but also the situation the man was on. He was sleeping or at least resting, with his eyes closed and a soft expression, and also a ridiculously deliciously messy bed hair. His thoughts were probably bordering the creepy but Eren was beyond trying to control them and so he let his mind wonder how Levi looked while sleeping nowadays. With luck, his expression would have remained the same as it had happened with the hair. What was even more creepy, however, was that Eren didn't feel more attracted to the man when he saw pictures of him when he was his age. It was what he was supposed to though, right? To feel attracted to people his age. Not to men fifteen years older - not when they're your uncle's roommate, your friends' teacher, not when they're this close.

The last shelf he had to clan had come with a surprise. The photo which laid there had not only Levi, or Erwin, but also Eren. Eren, when he was just a baby brunette big eyed toddler, who was being held by Levi on his teenager years. The formal attire and his own age when the photo was taken had given the time of the picture away for Eren and he didn't know how to feel about it.

"You were at my christening?" he asked, still a bit taken aback, picking up the picture.

"Unfortunately ..." Levi mumbled with mild discomfort.

"I didn't know you and Erwin had that much history. Nineteen years ..."

"Twenty three."

"What?" "I've known Erwin for twenty three years."

"That's a lot of years ..." Eren smiled at first, then looking towards Levi and so stopped when he got aware of the mood "How was I? As a kid I mean?"

"Even worse than now, if that's possible."

"I'm sure that's not true" Eren protested.

"If you really want to know, you urinated on me." Eren laughed, looked at Levi, stopped laughing, inquired with his eyes, Levi nodded in response, and his face became deprived of colour.

"Shit."

"No, piss. If it had been shit, you wouldn't be here listening to me."

"Don't assassins have this policy of not killing children and babies?" teased Eren.

"Not this one." Levi turned his attention completely to Eren now as he finished cleaning his desk, closing the last drawer.

"I guess we have history too then." Eren pointed out, his bluntness showing as he made eye contact with Levi.

"What?"

"Nineteen years."

"I've actually only been with you for a grand total of almost two weeks, learn how to count, kid."

"It doesn't matter." Eren smiled and put the picture back in place "What matters is we met nineteen years ago and the years in between don't matter. So call me Eren, it's weird if you don't."

"You were months-old, it doesn't count."

"It does!" he cried out.

"If it counts, then respect me as your elder, I'm old enough to be your father."

"Were you fathering kids at age fifteen?" he joked ignoring the intimidating glare Levi was sporting "But I do respect you."

"I know you do." His tone was almost soft and Eren wanted to believe this was due to some kind of affection and anyone would have believed it to be so if it weren't for what he eventually added afterwards. "You'd be an idiot if you didn't. Now off to clean the kitchen, let's go, brat. "

Eren was always one to stick to the principle that something that is already cleaned needs not to be cleaned again. Therefore, it was highly illogical for Eren the thought of cleaning a kitchen which looked better than his kitchen back at home at its best.

"You're kidding me right? This only needed to be glowing in order to look like one of those perfect kitchens on tv commercials."

"Exactly. It's not glowing. It needs to be glowing."

At first, he wanted to believe Levi was joking - it was not humanly possible for it to be literally glowing - but then he remembered who he was dealing with and his obsession with everything related with cleaning. Levi wouldn't joke about it and if there was a man capable of doing an inhuman sort of cleaning, he was humanity's one and only.

"So what exactly do I do? I don't know how to clean what's already more than clean."

Despite not knowing how in the beginning, half an hour in and Eren discovered it to be exhausting, difficult, and time-consuming. In the time he had been there, he'd seen Levi cleaning a lot of times but never in such an exhaustive manner. Why was he doing it now, with him of all the people. He was probably causing more trouble than helping since not in a thousand years would Eren's cleaning be acceptable for his rwstandards. He ought to ask Petra about this obsession bordering the compulsive Levi had the next time he was with the woman.

"You inherited your mother's cleaning. Effective but a lousy job nevertheless." Levi said while he was cleaning the insides of the oven. "I used to clean your grandma's house after Clara did and she would really take it as something personal. One day she quit and told me that if I was going to clean it after she already did, I might as well clean it myself alone."

"It does sound like something she would say. "

"I used to hang around Clara a lot. She didn't really like me, always calling me out on my shit. Then I just ... almost never saw her again. She went to college and right after that she married your father and had you. Your father ... He's the one I never really got to know."

"I guess that makes us two."

Levi glanced at Eren's direction. He was cleaning the kitchen table, his mind far from the task, his eyes again giving away his feelings. Again the anger, the guilt. Although one would think it was mere genetics which made his eyes such a sight, it weren't his eyes the intense one but the nature of his character. Eren Jaeger was intense and lived things intensely. Such attitude was doing him no good. You're better off being numb to the world than to be too aware of it and if you want to better understand the implications of such realisation , one just has to have in mind Levi's whole persona.

"You've missed a spot."

"Just one?"

"I was trying to play nice." Levi joked.

"You're being nicer than usual today."

"I am sensing the daddy issues clinging onto the conversation, one has to defuse the tension."

He didn't know if he should smile it away as a joke or answer it genuinely. He felt comfortable talking with Levi - he just didn't know if Levi wanted to hear about it.

"If you were waiting for a moment to speak, it is now, I'm not giving you another." Levi was genuinely curious about all the situation and, from what he had induced, so was Erwin "Don't stop working though, we still have the living room to clean and dinner to make. "

"There's not much to tell. He's a doctor, he spends a lot of time working. One can't really bond with him. He used to be nicer and I guess when I was younger he actually gave a damn about me, but he was still only a student so-"

"Don't try to justify shitty parenting."

"I'm not-"

"Believe me, you are. Don't do it."

"I'm not trying to find reason on his actions but what should I expect from him? He's a doctor ... He works a lot. Of course his relationship with me would suck and my mother and his was doomed from the beginning"

"There are a lot of doctors who are good fathers. If you can't balance work and family, don't have children." Levi had since stopped what he was doing, his words not really his own since he was basically replaying a conversation he'd once had with Hanji.

"Is that why you don't have kids? Ill time managing skills?"

"Don't try to run away from the conversation. And no, I don't have kids because I'm too busy dealing with other people's kids and also I so happen to exclusively like cock."

He might have only added that last part because he simply loved flustered Eren.

"He- he kind of got stuck with me, so it isn't his fault."

Oh, accidental baby alert! Great! Feelings of being unwanted and unresolved issues with guilt for ruining daddy and mommy's life. I should stop hanging out in Petra's office.

"If he didn't want kids, he shouldn't have put his unprotected dick on your mother. It's entirely his fault."

"Another reason why you're gay?"

The brat was starting to ease into it and Levi wasn't sure how to feel about it.

"Another reason why I simply don't stick it in anywhere."

Not exclusively though, he topped from time to time. But it made flustered Eren come back once he'd (only after some seconds) realized what Levi had implied, so it was worth the lie.

"Going on?"

"Uh- That's all I guess." he mumbled, not looking on Levi's eyes, nervously biting the insides of his lower lip.

"Brat." Levi paused, waiting for the boy to at least look towards him "Just because you were initially unexpected and inconvenient, it doesn't mean you're unwanted."

"Thanks."

His smile was a poor excuse of one, but they say that a forced fake smile can sometimes help.

"Now, living room."

"But!"

"No buts. I'm gonna get you so tired the next time you think about partying will be when you're already out of my sights for good."

* * *

He did get tired. They hadn't yet finished the living room when Levi looked to his side and saw Eren, leaning onto the TV with one hand, the other arm falling to his side, his head slightly tilted to the side as he snored.

"Jeez, can you do anything right?" he scolded, though he knew Eren wasn't listening to him.

Good thing he was strong. Without much thought, he picked the boy up, carelessly and with ease, then putting him down to rest on the couch. He didn't like when people slept on the couch, but he had made a deal with himself not to enter the kid's room - to give him so privacy and also to preserve his sanity because that couldn't possibly look good - and he had to admit the boy looked pretty darn cute (he would never say it out loud because Levi doesn't say something like that) when he was sleeping like that, despite knowing that in a normal situation he would have found someone with an open mouth loudly snoring to be extremely unattractive.

When Eren woke up it was to the delicious scent of meat. He rubbed his eyes, still letting a couple of yawns escape from his mouth. Not much later, he noticed he had a warm blanket over him - though not the kind that would be so warm it would make him discomfortable on such weather - and that Levi was nowhere to be seen. He got up and started chasing the smell carefully, trying his hardest not to stumble on something due to his state of semi-consciousness. When he got to the kitchen, he saw Levi from the back, still wearing his bland white apron. He wanted to stare at it a bit longer but he thought it would be for the best if he didn't for he shouldn't be perpetuating his attraction. He should have invested more on his crush on Christa, he thought, but then he also got to know she and Ymir were sort of girlfriends (according to Jean they were, but they wouldn't admit, according to Marco, it wasn't as if they were trying to hide anything) so it was a equally doomed, but more socially acceptable crush. He was tempted to tell Armin about it - he would probably joke about his inevitability to crush on queer people. There was that time with Annie, who ended up dating Mikasa for a couple of months or so, then that one girl from gym class, so on, so on.

"Hey ..." he said and his voice was still showings hints of sleeping and was more of a weird yawn than words "Sorry for falling asleep."

"As long as you didn't drool on my furniture."

"I think I didn't." he smiled, walking his way towards Levi's side "Do you need any help?"

"If you don't mind" which in Levi's language meant fucking do it, he'd learnt "you could set the table. I'm almost done here."

When dinner's finally served after such a long day, Eren just sighed. He wanted the day to be over, but overall, he had enjoyed it even if he didn't understand why Levi was acting that way.

"Thank you." Eren mumbled.

He looked half expectant to Levi, waiting for him to reply with at least a grunt. A few seconds passed and when he finally realised Eren was actually talking to him, he looked up confused.

"For what? The food?"

"Well that too but ... for everything, I guess?"

Levi didn't answer and merely nodded. It was nine pm and so he wasn't going to sleep until one in the morning. He never slept a lot, even if he could. You spend one too many nights not sleeping enough, and your body ends up getting used to the lack of sleep. However, he would probably retire to his room soon, leaving Eren alone.

Eren was still yawning, adorably so. His eyes would beautifully get closed and the sound that came from his mouth was so genuine and loud. His hair was still a mess, he didn't even bother to comb it before dinner. He had underestimated the boy when he saw him for the first time, he was nowhere near bland. It could also be the effect of him getting closer to Eren, it is said you start considering people more attractive once you start getting to know them. Levi didn't want to admit he was growing fond of him though - he tried to shrug it off as him projecting himself onto the boy and it being the first time he spent that many time around someone in a long time. He shouldn't get attached to him. When you're taking care of a stray dog, the rule number one is not to give it a name - you get attached to it and then you can't let it go. Golden rule: don't call him Eren.

* * *

**A/N: aaaaaaah sorry for the lateness :c I didn't expect college to be so much work right from the beginning. (and I'm currently in a love/hate relationship with French)** **but again, thank you for the reviews, I'll try to answer personally the people who have reviewed this using their accounts and to all the others THANK YOU SO MUCH! **

**Until next time, let's hope it doesn't take as much time as it took this time and the last time. **


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